Thursday, December 8, 2011

A few hundred years ago, the Inquisition was in full force. People were arrested, jailed, tortured and killed because of rumor and suspicion. Rumor and suspicion was all it took to kill thousands of people. And greed. Actual proof never came into the process.

In the 1600's here in this country (before we were a country), people were arrested, jailed indefinitely and quite a few killed based on suspicion and rumor. Again, actual proof was never on the agenda.

During World War II, thousands of people were put in camps here in the US only because they were of Japansese descent -- no crimes, no courts, no proof of wrongdoing.

I really don't understand what is going through the minds of those who we, collectively, have put in office. Because it looks like we're going down that same road.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

We really do need to get the money out. In more ways than one. In the Capitol, we need to get rid of the lobbyists and the special interest groups. More than that, we need to do something about that oh-so-sweet pension our elected officials enjoy when they retire (or are fired voted out of office). Maybe then we would get people running who actually want to be part of the solution rather than being the problem. Maybe then we'll get people who are more than petty bureaucrats who want to get rich and retire on the government's dime.

The pension for Senators, Representatives and Presidents? Their entire annual salary plus that very sweet benefits package for the rest of their lives.

As I watched yet another GOP presidential wannabe implode, I started thinking about how we came to this point. This point where a group of clowns in nice suits can spawn our possible next president. How can this be? The Occupy movement is going strong, for all the attempts to shut it down. Even with the attacks on our educational system, this is still a mostly intelligent and educated society. So what's with the acceptance of these total losers as possible presidential material?

Then I got the answer: Apathy. Yup, that's right, apathy. How can that be? you ask. How can it NOT be, I say.

Too many people are living horror stories. Private, personal horror stories. They've lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, and there isn't an end in sight. All they see on the news is bad. The economy sucks, the war in the Mideast drags on, and now, on top of everything, on the horizon is a holiday that used to be a time of hope. Too many people have seen their futures destroyed along with the futures of their children. Some may have taken part in the Occupy movement in the beginning, but that doesn't put food on the table or clothes on their backs and it doesn't pay the rent.

Then they start listening to a bunch of people who are jockeying for position to become the next President of the United States. At first, they probably laugh and scoff, but then they start hearing what they want to hear: Quick, easy answers to all their problems. It doesn't matter that these "solutions" won't work. Its what they want to hear.

This is what really scares me. One of the clowns may become president because people can't afford to care any more and will vote for the one with the easy answers with no substance.